What Did You Feel Like You Could Pull Off?

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Emma Thompson has written a new book about the nineties. In promoting it, she's talked to people who are now in their late teens and early twenties. She says they don't seem signed up for certain kind of receiving culture that she was at her age. But there is still room for young people to explore different ways of looking at the world - which can be both encouraging and scary.

This week, we talk to the author Elif Batuman about her new novel ‘Either / Or’. The book is set in the 1990s, and follows Elif’s fictionalised alter ego, Selin, as she navigates life as a Harvard student. Elif reflects on looking back at the ’90s from a contemporary perspective and talks about what we’ve learnt since. Then, we hear about feedback from deputy FT Magazine editor Esther Bintliff. We live in a culture obsessed with feedback. But what kind of feedback is actually effective?

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Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links and mentions from the episode:

– Either/Or by Elif Batuman is available in all good bookstores.

– Esther’s piece on feedback, https://www.ft.com/content/a681ac3c-73b8-459b-843c-0d796f15020e

– Bradley Whitford describing the three-step reaction on WTF with Marc Maron http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-909-bradley-whitford

– If you want to hear Kim Scott talking about Radical Candour at Inbound Bold Talks, 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9GLeNCgm4

– Elif Batuman is on Twitter @BananaKarenina. Esther is on Twitter @estherbintliff.

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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

Silicon Valley clip in this episode is courtesy of HBO.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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